San Diego State, Here I Come!

After months of waiting, I found out recently that I got accepted to San Diego State. That means that my two years of Community College will at last be coming to an end, and in the Fall I will get to experience going to a four-year college. Not only that, but I will get to experience being 10 hours away from home and away from the people I’ve grown close and accustomed to.

Thinking of leaving to San Diego brings up mixed feelings for me. I am sad thinking of the people I will have to say goodbye to and the distance that will be between us. I’ve really enjoyed living in the city an hour north of my parents’ this year because I love the people, the dancing, and the general area. I could see myself spending more time here, and feel the year went by quickly. But at the same time, I know that San Diego State has a lot of interesting Sociology classes that I want to take, has a lot of cool areas to explore and activities to get involved in, and that I would really regret not going. I’m likely to feel out of my comfort zone and a little lonely at first, but deep down I know that my fear makes it all the more important that I go. I think I will enjoy living in San Diego as long as I can get involved on campus and in the community. And I know I will still be in touch with the friends and family I am apart from.

Have you ever had to move away on your own from loved ones and start anew in a different city? How did your experience turn out?

Good luck! It sounds great with the sociology courses, and I strongly suspect that you’ll find ways to benefit a lot from moving to a new city.

Sociology was my favourite subject in uni (afterwards…the one I got most out of and still use as a tool to understand the world).

With your questions, I have moved to new places (mostly in the countryside, but also cities) more times that I can count… and also migrated to a new country. So I can’t answer the question ‘how did it go’ because there are countless answers! but I also suspect my experiences aren’t really relevant for the type of personal experiences you’re asking about.

Thanks Mados, I am thinking it will be a great experience too. :)
Yeah Sociology is a fascinating subject, and it’s definitely opened my eyes to the world in a lot of different ways.
That’s great that you have a lot of experiences moving new places, I’m sure each of the experiences was beneficial to you in some way. Thanks for the response!

I moved a mere four hour drive away from where I grew up, seven years ago, for the sake of my career.
In the process, I stretched the rubber band of some relationships to the point of snapping (with people that needed constant attention) while strengthening the relationships with the people who had recognized how unique I was in their lives, and would remain in my life regardless of distance or time.
Focus on those people…
They are the ones that matter.

That’s great to hear James, I have a feeling I will go through a similar experience. It has already happened in some ways since I graduated high school, and my friend pool whittled down, but I suspect it will happen again once I move to a new college. I have a feeling about which relationships aren’t going to last and which ones are based on the care and commitment I’ve been shown. And you’re right, those are the people that matter. Thanks for your input!

Hi Brittany, new follower here! I’m from the UK and at the moment I’m reading Quiet by Susan Cain, and I stumbled upon your article on her website. I’ve had to move to University twice before (once for my BA, and once for my MA), so I entirely sympathise. It does take some getting used to, and I did have a lot of homesickness, but the good news is that you can get people to visit and go home for vacations/weekends sometimes. I found I grew my independence a lot whilst doing my BA – at the time I hadn’t recognised my shyness and introversion so much so I think you’re in a much better place than I was! My second time around for my Masters was much better, and I connected on a deep level with people in my Women’s Studies course, because we were all passionate about the same things. Seek out places where you can find people who enjoy or care about the same things – do stuff that you love doing :) And its okay to get homesick – I found myself getting homesick a lot but I found certain things helped, like reading or doing something to take my mind off it, or phoning home/emailing friends etc. Have a great time! xxx

Your comment really resonated with me – thanks for sharing it! I’m also in the UK (and a new follower), and have always been heavily introverted. I was struggling with social anxiety before university, but the transition has helped me a lot. As I’m doing a languages degree, I have to spend a year abroad, and from September I’m going to be working in Barcelona. I’ll see how that goes!

Brittany, I’m so glad I found your blog. I also wish you all the best for San Diego, and I’ll be sure to keep an eye on your posts. Congratulations too!

Hope the year in Barcelona is a great experience for you, sounds like it will be! And thank you, I’m glad you found it too so I could read your response! Thanks, time is going by fast and I’ll be there in late August. Just finished my last day of community college yesterday and am all done with finals now. Thanks for writing!

Hi Liz, thanks for stopping by and leaving this lovely response! :) I’m glad to hear you found your independence grew a lot while you were away to college getting your BA. I’m hoping the same will happen for me, sounds likely. I’m also glad to hear it got even better the second time around when you got your MA, that’s great that you were surrounded by people who shared your passion.

Yeah I will probably get homesick too, but I’m glad for the internet and the phone. One of my best friends will be studying abroad in Wales the same time I go away to San Diego so I imagine email will be very useful in that case! Thank you for writing!

Haha sounds great, I’m hoping San Diego’s Sociology courses don’t let me down! I’ve been a little disappointed with my Sociology classes in Santa Rosa compared to the first amazing Intro class I took at a different community college. I had one of the best teachers I’d ever had that made me fall in love with the subject.